Yesterday, we went on a trip to the small town of Ba'un, north of Amman, to pick lives with a local family.
Another few hours later, it was time for lunch!
The harvest season is short, so we had to get right to work.
A giant tarp is laid on the ground around the base of the olive tree and the olives are picked off the branches by hand or combed off the tree with a plastic rake, something like a child's beach toy.
After an hour or so of work, it was tea time! Also, time for pita bread with olive oil (of course!) and za'ta.
Sam had his first taste of caffeine and was soon in the tops of the trees, singing at the top of his lungs, "Tomato tornado!!"
After lunch, we were shown how to properly prepare the olives for brining. It largely entails crushing the olives with a flat stone. No surprise, this was a task the kids took to with gusto!
Before heading back to Amman, we followed the olives to the local press to see them turned into olive oil. We also had the opportunity to fill our own bottle of freshly-pressed oil.
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